Shiite militiamen have overrun Iraq’s prison system. “We cannot control the prisons. It’s as simple as that,” says the country’s deputy justice minister. The prisons won’t be turned over to Iraqi control until relative order is restored.Hard to know which side to take on this one: There’s apparently a fair chance of Iraqi prisoners getting tortured no matter which country runs the jails.

The fierce debate on the Iraq war that began in Congress on Thursday will culminate on Friday with a nonbinding resolution that includes: labeling the Iraq war as part of the war on terror, and opposition to setting an “arbitrary” withdrawal date. Democrats decried the vote as an election-year sham.

The six-nation incentive package aimed at halting Iran’s uraniam enrichment appears to have some purchase in Tehran. But don’t start celebrating. The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei again vowed that Iran would never back down on its nuclear program. This is also bad news for Cheney and Rumsfeld: The appearance of diplomatic progress will make a future U.S. invasion all the tougher to justify.

Passages in Ann Coulter’s new book appear cribbed from material distributed by an anti-abortion group (according to Raw Story) and from a press conference by Alan Keyes, then a Republican Senate candidate (according to Rude Pundit).

House and Senate lawmakers embraced a $3,300 pay raise that would increase their salaries to $168,500. Meanwhile, it’s been reported that members of the House’s own ethics committeetook over $1 million in privately funded (read: lobbyist-funded) trips last year.

In the wake of the marriage ban’s failure in the Senate, conservative Christian leaders are discussing an unprecedented—although apparently legal—maneuver to amend the Constitution without congressional approval.

Michael Gerson wrote every major speech of Bush’s presidency, led a crusade to fund the fight against AIDS, malaria and poverty, and pushed for stronger action in Darfur. He also formulated Bush’s plan to spread democracy around the globe—with somewhat mixed results. No apparent scandal here: He’d been talking about leaving since 2004.

The Mail on Sunday publishes an exposé on the conditions endured by iPod assemblers in China. Says a female worker: “We have to work too hard and I am always tired. It’s like being in the army. They make us stand still for hours. If we move, we are punished by being made to stand still for longer.”